


Promises to Stay

by Oh_DAMNeron



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, I like this oc a lot, M/M, No editing we die as men, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:21:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23405962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oh_DAMNeron/pseuds/Oh_DAMNeron
Summary: While trying to get the needed sith information out of C3-PO, Poe Dameron ends up being confronted by how he left behind someone who truly cared for him.____"So I see you're back." Cassius Dane looked up at Poe for a moment, restraining himself, before turning around and continuing stripping wires."So I see you're still mad." Poe held his blaster close, sneaking a peek around the door frame, spying the stormtroopers who were drawing ever closer.
Relationships: Poe Dameron & Original Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Promises to Stay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spaghett](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaghett/gifts), [innocent_until_proven_geeky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/innocent_until_proven_geeky/gifts), [lisianpeia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lisianpeia/gifts), [FlyingFreeYT](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingFreeYT/gifts).



"So I see you're back." Cassius Dane looked up at Poe for a moment, restraining himself, before turning around and continuing stripping wires.   
"So I see you're still mad." Poe held his blaster close, sneaking a peek around the door frame, spying the stormtroopers who were drawing ever closer.  
"I have every right to be mad. You lied to me for _months_!" He hissed through his teeth, trying to express his anger but not get them all caught with loud arguments.  
"I was undercover! You know this!" Poe flashed a judgmental and frustrating look at Cassius before resuming his lookout.  
Cas twisted exposed wires together and replaced the control panel. He thudded it securely back in place and, after pressing a few buttons, the doors slid open. Cassius pulled Poe inside by the shirt and locked the door behind them. Cas raised a finger to his lips and Poe raised his blaster, the sound of marching grew louder until it reached its peak and slowly died down as the troopers passed.  
"You're an asshole." Cassius punched Poe in the arm as he walked deeper into the building.  
Poe gave him an offended and hurt expression behind his back before mocking him and muttering, "You're an asshole." in a childish tone under his breath.  
"They're waiting for us in the next building over, we'll go out the back." Cassius pulled his blaster from its holder on the side of his leg.  
"Wait, I feel like we should talk about this before we get back." Poe reached out and placed a hand on Cas' shoulder but it was quickly shaken off.  
"No, we'll talk about this another time." He kept walking, weaving his way around upturned furniture and broken plates.  
Poe followed quickly, eyes on the ground, watching his step. "What if we don't have another time?"  
"Then maybe that's for the best." Cassius' voice was low but even Poe could detect the hint of sorrow and pain laced through his words.  
Poe's eyebrows furrowed and he clenched his jaw, "Cas, I-"  
"Stop." He whipped around and glared at Poe, cutting him off before he could get another word out, "You don't get to call me that. Don't act like we're close when I obviously know nothing about who you really are."  
Poe was taken aback. He stood still, slowly curling in on himself under Cassius' gaze, feeling rather guilty about the few months they had spent together. He wanted to talk about it, he really did, but he also knew what was at stake if they didn't get the information out of C3-PO. They could lose the war and everything they had worked towards all this time. So he dropped his gaze back to the floor and let Cassius continue to the back door. He once again, stripped some wires, twisted them together, and the previously locked door opened with ease. He must have been doing this for a very long time. It would be a lie if Poe said he wasn't impressed.

"Finally, we were getting worried about you two, thought you'd ran into trouble." Zorii turned to them as they entered the building. "Did you get what we need?"  
"Sure did." Cas replied half heartedly and handed over the bag of tools he had snuck out of confiscation with the help of Poe.   
Poe wandered back over towards Rey and Finn, the latter immediately realising something was up with Poe. His eyes were on the floor, contemplative and breathing heavily. Finn knew this look, and it wasn't a good one. He put a hand on Poe's back, effectively pulling him from his stupor.  
"Are you good?" He whispered, meeting Poe's worried gaze.  
He just nodded, clearly lying, he gaze flicking to Cassius instinctively for a split second.  
"Alright, we'll let Babu get to work and keep you updated on any developments. It shouldn't take too long." Zorii instructed.  
Cassius immediately stalked off and Poe resisted the urge to follow him. His face twisting into regret so clear that Finn pulled him aside.  
"What happened between you two?" Finn was concerned and rightly so, Poe was distracted and distraction could lead to them being killed, or worse, caught and tortured for information.  
"Nothing recent, I can tell you that." Poe crossed his arms over his chest, eyes lingering on the spot Cassius had been.  
"So you have a history?" Finn concluded.  
Poe nodded and dropped his gaze to the floor again. "A bad one."  
"Did you talk about it?" Finn pressed, obviously curious.  
"He wouldn't let me. Said it might be for the best if we didn't. He's mad and rightly so."  
"The kriff did you do to him?"  
"Don't worry about it." Poe shook his head and pushed off the wall. He felt himself instinctively following Cassius down the same hallway. Finn defeatedly let him go, quirking am eyebrow in Rey's direction, who just shrugged. Poe used to know this place like the back of his hand but he was a bit rusty. It took him two tries to find the hatch to the roof, he wanted to keep a look out. As his head peeked over the brim of the manhole, he saw Cassius sat quite comfortably on the roof. Poe cursed under his breath. And yet he continued and made his way onto the roof.  
Cassius looked over at the sound, instinctively reaching for his blaster, before groaning and pulling his knees up to his chest.  
"It's you again." He looked back over the buildings.  
Poe could feel the tension. "I'm sorry I.. I didn't realise you were out here." He awkwardly stood by Cassius, waiting for any sign of what to do.  
"Whatever, you're already here aren't you, might as well get comfortable." He crossed his arms over his knees and rested his chin on his arms, "Who knows how longer you'll stay anyways."  
That hurt Poe. He felt a pang of regret deep in his chest.  
"I'm sorry, Cassius. I don't know how to fix this." Poe had settled onto the roof next to Cas, but a reasonable distance away in case Cassius wanted to lash out.  
"I don't think you can." There was an agonising moment of silence between them that seemed to drag on for an eternity before Cas finally continued. "When the Resistance came to pick you up that day, I was _scared_ and I realised how stupid I was to have believed anything you told me."  
"Cas..." Poe's voice was low and oozed with pain.  
"I loved you, Poe, and it was the worst mistake of my life. You lied to me and then you left, and it _hurt_. You can't fix this." Cassius' wet eyes shone under the moonlight. Poe found he was holding back his own tears. Poe looked to the stars, hoping he would be able to see his home from here, but he doubted it.  
"I wanted to love you so badly. I was going to give up spice running. I would have ran away with you at a moment's notice, but you _lied_. None of it was real."  
Poe was speechless. He hadn't realised how much pain he had truly caused. This man, who had fallen in love with him, and who he had fallen in love with in turn, hated him for that exact reason. It had been five months of intense and reckless spice running together as Poe secretly tried to gather intel on enemy bases and relay it to the Resistance. Once he had done his job, the Resistance pulled him out with hardly a day's warning.  
"I wanted it to be real. Parts of it were. But I had to distance myself from that, it was an important mission and we didn't know who to trust so we opted not to tell you. There is nothing I regret more."  
Poe inched closer and closer, testing the waters between them. He gently placed his hand on Cassius' and when it wasn't immediately shaken off, he continued on.  
"I want you to know me, the _true_ me. Cassius, I feel so guilty for everything I've done to you. I know you'll probably never trust me again but I-"  
"You can't just walk back into my life suddenly and assume I'll fall right back into your arms. You're going to leave again and I'm going to get hurt worse. I need to know that you'll _stay_. I can't do this again and I know you can't make that promise. So why even bother." He sounded defeated, like he knew he would never find true closure.  
"No, I can't promise that. I have to go back, there's the war..." He felt horrible for saying it.  
Cassius looked over to Poe, who saw that his cheeks were streaked with glistening moonlight, "Of course. You have a duty and I'm just a spice runner."  
"Cas, if... If we win this war, let me come find you. I'll prove that it can be real, that I'll stay. Give me another chance." Poe was practically begging. His mind was running through the time they had spent together and how he craved to have something like that again. If he could be with Cassius again, maybe all the loss he had dealt with during this war could be worth it.  
Cassius' closed his eyes and gently, slowly, brushed his fingers against Poe's, so that their fingers were practically intertwined. His heart was racing and he felt short of breath.  
"Do I get any sort of insurance that you'll come back for me?" Cas joked, trying to lessen the tension that was drowning them.  
Poe used his spare hand to pull away his scarf and fish for the necklace draped against his chest underneath his shirt. Cas' eyes widened when Poe pulled his necklace over his head, his mother's wedding ring attached to it.  
"Poe, no. That's too important." Cassius held a hand up defensively, he wasn't about to take something that special.  
But before he could argue any more Poe was already dropping the necklace over Cassius' head and it settled over the top of his clothes.  
"I'm sure that's enough insurance. You know how important that is to me, you gotta keep it safe." Poe watched Cassius' mind run a mile a minute.  
"I can't." With his free hand he inspected the ring. It was truly beautiful, he couldn't be responsible over something like this. It was valuable, both physically and emotionally.  
"Too late. I'm coming back for that and I'm coming back for _you_. That's a promise."  
Cassius wanted to fall right back into his old habits with Poe. But he knew that if he got attached now, it would just hurt more. So they stayed as they were, hands intertwined, staring out over the buildings. Poe felt like he had taken a step towards fixing this mess he had started years ago and Cassius was ready to maybe give it another chance after the war, whenever that may be. Cassius hooked his finger through the ring that hung from his neck, it would soon develop into a subconscious habit of sorts.


End file.
